Ransom
by Rookblonkorules
Summary: Dick Grayson is kidnapped and Barbara Gordon is caught in the crossfire. How far will the one go to save the other?


**Note:** This is one plot bunny that attacked and decided it just wouldn't go away-even though I was currently working on several other projects-so I decided to write it out and see how it turned out.

Canonically, I'd imagine this would take place before season one, or somewhere in the middle of season one. Maybe a few months after Dick and Barbara first met. Barbara does not know Bruce is Batman, nor does she know that Dick is Robin. Though you can imagine that she figures it out soon afterwards, if you'd like.

 **Pairing:** Platonic younger Dick/Babs

The relationship is meant to be platonic here because, even though I do ship these two and they're the first comic book couple that I truly fell in love with, Ii'd imagine that they're a bit too young to have feelings for each other in this fic. Maybe in a few years. Although maybe there's the beginnings of a few crushes? ;)

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Young Justice or its characters. Both are property of DC comics.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Alfred's okay with me coming over today, right?" Barbara asks, as she keeps pace beside Dick.

Her father has to stay at the department late into the night today, which usually means a sleepover at Wayne Manor.

The two of them are walking home from school.

"Alfred's always okay with you coming over," Dick tells her. "It's Bruce you have to worry about though." He winks.

"Okay, then," Barbara rolls her eyes, but smiles. "Is _Bruce_ okay with me coming over?"

"Yeah, sure." Dick grins at her and cracks his neck, hiking his backpack a little higher up on his back.

Barbara twists a lock of hair around her finger.

"'Spiderman sound good?" Dick asks, turning so that he's facing her and walking backwards.

"You know what's ironic?" Barbara laughs. "That in a world full of superheroes, you still insist on watching superhero movies. You even share a house with one."  
"Um, maybe it's because they're completely asterous? Admit it. You like them too."

Barbara grins slyly, but refuses to confess. "Maybe…" she begins, but she's cut off by the screech of tires.

A van turns the corner far too quickly than what is safe, pulling to a stop directly in front of them.

Barbara freezes. "What…?"

"Barbara, move! Run!" Dick is suddenly shoving her, trying to get her to run.

Dropping her books, she does so.

Barbara doesn't get far.

She collides with someone who's come up behind them.

There's a second car, one they hadn't seen.

How had that happened?

"Dick!"  
She gets a glimpse of Dick struggling with an attacker.

 _Why the hell are there so many?_

 _And why is there no one stepping in to help?_

The answer to that last question is simple enough: there's no one here to help them.

Dick shoots her a look of pure panic. "Babs!"  
Something collides with her head and stars streak across her vision.

Barbara fights to stay conscious, but another blow strikes the back of her skull.

This time, she welcomes the darkness.

* * *

Barbara wakes up on the floor.

Groaning, she peels her eyes open. Her vision is still blurry, but she knows they're in a room. Locked in presumably.

You don't kidnap someone and then leave them in a room to get away.

There's no blood when she pulls her hand away, but she has a splitting headache that she doubts will be going away anytime soon.

"Dick?" she moans, trying to push herself up. The pain pulses to a white hot point behind her eyes and she drops back down to the floor.

But she already knows that she's going to have to move.

She has a headache, yes, but a headache isn't going to kill her.

But staying with the men who took her very well might.

Barbara tries to push herself up again, ignoring as best she can the bursts of pain in her temple.

Holding herself up with her arms, she keeps her eyes closed, willing the headache to disappear.

It doesn't. But it does abate.

And when it does, she rolls over, forcing herself to sit up.

"Dick?" Her voice comes out slightly strangled.

"...here, Babs." The groan comes from her left and she turns her head with enough force to give herself whiplash and nearly send her reeling back to the ground.

As it is, she barely manages to steady herself.

"Dick?" She can't help how shaky she sounds.

Dick is lying on his side, bangs sweaty and hanging over his eyes. His eyes flutter open, before falling on her. "...Babs…"

"Dick..!" Barbara doesn't feel enough like herself to attempt standing up, so she crawls to him. "Dick." She pushes his hair out of his eyes, but then hesitates, unsure of what to do, how to help him.

She settles for asking a question. "How do you feel?"

Dick clenches his eyes shut again, considering the question. "Like someone brained me with a two by four," he finally whispers.

"I can help you sit up," Barbara offers.

Dick hesitates a moment, before nodding.

Barbara takes his hand, and starts gently hauling him up.

"Wait!" Dick gasps, eyes flying open. He groans, screwing his eyes shut again and curling up slightly. "Ow…" he murmurs.

"Dick," Barbara reaches for his shoulder, "you have to get up." She casts a look at the door. "They could come back. Dick, we don't know who took us!"

Dick nods again and when Barbara reaches for his hand, he waves her off, mumbling, "Lemme do it."

So Barbara does, watching him struggle to orient himself as she did only several minutes earlier, before managing to sit himself up.

"When I catch the number of the guy who did this…" he mutters, putting a hand to his head. Then, sighing, he leans his head back against the wall.

His eyes flicker to her. "Are you okay?" he asks. Despite the pain that still laces his voice, he sounds concerned.

Barbara shrugs. "I'd be a lot better if we weren't kidnapped."

"They want Bruce's money," Dick says flatly, because what else would they be after? And then his eyes, wide and concerned, flicker to her. "So why'd they take you?"

* * *

The door bursts open hard enough to bounce off the wall with a resounding _Bang!_

Barbara starts, whipping around.

Dick does too.

The man standing there is tall, balding, eyes blazing as he takes in Barbara.

"Who is she?"

He points at her, pointing at an underling, or henchman, who's followed him into the room. "She's not Wayne's kid, so why the _hell_ is she here?"

Barbara draws back instinctively, her mouth going dry.

Dick tenses.

The henchman type, stockier, with hair that curls around his ears, stammers, panicked, "I… she… she was with him! Sir!"

"Sir!" ignores him, marching forward. "So get rid of her!"

Before she can react, he suddenly grasps her hair, dragging her forward onto her knees. Barbara shrieks before she can help it, hands flying to claw at his wrist. She's not dizzy anymore, adrenaline rushing through her along with the instinct to fight with everything she has and she kicks and claws, doing anything to delay their progress.

"Barbara!" Dick is shouting behind her, scrambling to his feet, using the wall to support himself. "No! Stop!"

"Shut up!" the man hisses at him.

"You're going to kill her?" The underling sounds terrified of the prospect.

Dick grabs at the man's arm, suddenly at their side. "Let her go!"  
"Get back!" Without releasing Barbara, the man turns, shoving Dick solidly in the chest.

The boy stumbles backwards, trying to catch himself, but failing to do so.

The man grabs her wrist, dragging her to her feet. She lashes out with her free fist, but her movements are too slow, and he catches it, pinning both in one hand.

"No, wait!" Dick shouts, more frantically this time. "He'll pay for her too! Bruce'll pay for her too!"

The man pauses, but he keeps a tight grip on Barbara's wrists.

Dick seems to take that as a sign for him to continue.

"If you don't kill her," he says, sounding breathless, though Barbara knows it's a combination of the terror and excitement, "Bruce will pay for her too. That's what you want, isn't it? Money?"

The underling seems to latch onto Dick's words. "See, Scotty? We don't have too…"

" _Shut up!"_ the man-Scotty- roars.

The underling flinches back and Barbara freezes.

"What do you think will happen if you kill her?" Dick continues. "Batman's going to be looking for you and what do you think is going to happen when he finds you? He doesn't take too kindly to kid killers."

"See?" the underling whines. "I don't want to be no kid killer! I don't want to mess with no Batman!"  
" _Shut. Up!"_ Scotty snaps. " _Batman_ won't find us."

Dick grins. "He's not called the World's Greatest Detective for nothing."

The man hesitates, glaring daggers at Dick.

Then, he releases Barbara's wrists, dropping her.

Barbara scrambles back till she's next to Dick and her back is pressed up against the wall.

"You," Scotty points at Dick, "get over here. You're gonna make that call for us. And if you're lying to us about old man Wayne…" he points at Barbara, "she goes. And there are ways to hurt you too that won't kill you. Understood?"

Dick swallows, nodding. "Understood," he whispers.

* * *

It's fifteen minutes later, by Barbara's estimate, when they bring Dick back.

He looks somewhat shell-shocked as he staggers back over to her, but otherwise unhurt.

She takes his hand when he sits back beside her, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Are you okay?" she asks softly. Just because he looks unhurt, doesn't mean they didn't do anything to him.

Dick nods without speaking, giving her hand a squeeze back.

"You kept him from killing me," Barbara goes on. "I didn't get a chance to say thank you."

"You're my friend," Dick snorts. "Of course I'm going to keep him from killing you."

He turns his head, his bright blue eyes meeting her green ones. "They're going to find us." He drops his voice, speaking in earnest. "We're not going to be here long."

"How do you know?" Barbara whispers back. Her heart pangs in her chest when she thinks of her father and just how worried he must be.

Dick rests his head back against the wall. "You'll see," is all he says, and a small smile plays across his lips.

* * *

Barbara does see.

She sees when the door gets kicked open and it's not either of their abductors there, but a dark-suited figure in a cowl and cape.

Her eyes are frozen on the hero as he steps into the room, crouching down in front of them.

"Are either of you hurt?" the masked man asks in a voice that sends shivers up Barbara's spine.

She's never seen the Batman before. Up close or otherwise.

"I'm fine," she manages without catching Dick's response, but she thinks he says something of the same sort.

"Can you stand?"

"Yes."

The Batman nods once and then looks at Dick.

The look takes up only a second, but it's enough for Barbara to wonder if some silent form of communication didn't just take place.

She glances at her best friend, but then the Batman is holding his hand out, offering it to her.

Barbara accepts it, feeling a thrill of excitement rush through her at the touch.

 _They're being rescued by a superhero!_

She steals another look at Dick as the Batman helps them both to their feet. He's grinning, practically beaming, as he meets her eyes.

"Told you," he says simply.

Yes. He did.

And Barbara wonders how he knew.

* * *

Her father is already outside, waiting with the police force, and, once the two children are out of the condemned building they were being held in, he sends the officers in.

"Dad!" Barbara runs to him, everything else forgotten in that moment.

"Barbara?"

Commissioner James Gordon catches sight of his daughter in that instant before Barbara hits him, arms wrapping tightly around his waist.

He hugs her tight, running a hand through her hair. "My little girl," he murmurs softly, and she can hear the tears that threaten in his voice. "I was so afraid."

"I'm okay, Dad," she says, and suddenly her voice is shaking, she's shaking. "I'm okay."

Past him, she sees a limousine, Bruce Wayne already out. Dick is there with him and she smiles.

They're both okay.

And it's thanks to the Batman.

"Dad," she says, pulling away to point back towards the hero, "it was..."  
She stops, confused.

The Batman is nowhere to be seen.

"I know, Babs." Her father stands next to her, a hand on her shoulder. "I know. It was him."

* * *

"You said you knew."

Barbara catches up to Dick just as Bruce is climbing back into the limo.

"You said you knew they were going to find us," Barbara says once she's next to him. "How did you know?"

Dick hesitates, sending one look at his guardian, but then he looks back at her. "He always comes," he says simply.

And then he hugs her. "I'm so glad you're alive," he whispers in her ear.

Bruce calls his name and, from somewhere behind her, she can hear her father calling for her too.

Neither parent wants to let them out of their sight.

Regretfully, they pull away.

Dick offers her one last smile, one she's happy to return, and then he climbs into the back of the car with Bruce.

And Barbara wonders who he was talking about.

The Batman.

His guardian.

Or both.


End file.
